Enbridge's Line 6A remains shut, cleanup continues

12 Sep 2010 19:14:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Enbridge's Line 6A 670,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity pipeline remained shut on Sunday as the clean up of leaked oil continued in Romeoville, Illinois, the company and regulators said.

There's no date set for restoring flow along Line 6A, one of three major pipelines that takes Canadian crude to U.S. refineries and the key Cushing, Oklahoma, crude oil hub, said Enbridge spokeswoman Terri Larson.

Four mid-continent refineries are supplied by the pipeline, which was shut on Thursday when the leak was discovered about 30 miles (48 km) from downtown Chicago.

Loose oil and water continued to be sucked into trucks at the scene of the leak and most of the oil remaining in a sealed-off 3-mile section of the pipe had been removed by Sunday morning, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Workers were removing 5 feet (1.5 metres) of earth above the pipeline, which is surrounded by water, sewer and utility lines.

"There are quite a lot of utilities in the area," Larson said.

Excavation of the line was delayed on Saturday by a nearby leaking water pipeline, which had to be sealed before the excavation resumed, said Sam Borries, federal on-scene coordinator for the EPA.

It was also unknown when the source of the leak might be found, Borries said.

"It could be sometime today or sometime in the future," he said.

Once the leak source is found, a section of the pipeline will have to be removed so the repair can be made, he said. That section of pipe will have to be replaced and inspections done by federal regulators before use of the line can resume.

The refineries in the region -- BP Plc's 405,000 bpd Whiting, Indiana, plant, Citgo Petroleum Corp's 167,000 bpd Lemont, Illinois, refinery, Exxon Mobil Corp's Joliet, Illinois, plant and Marathon Oil Corp's 206,000 bpd Robinson, Illinois, refinery -- have not announced any production cuts due to the shutdown.

Citgo said on Friday it had been forced to seek alternate crude supplies and the refinery had reduced production due to planned overhaul of some of its units that began before the shutdown. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Factbox on pipelines feeding the Midwest [ID:nN10275799] Factbox on refineries [ID:nN1037716] History of Enbridge's pipeline spills [ID:nN10254087] Enbridge pipeline configuration: http://link.reuters.com/qyz52p ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Chicago; Editing by Marguerita Choy)